While his given name is likely to have been "Giovanni Francesco", the last name of "Straparola" is not plausible. It is not typical of a family name of that time and place, and the literal meaning of it, "babbler", seems a likely nickname for a writer.[2]

Venice was the first place in Europe where the book-buying public included considerable numbers of literate artisans. This accounts for the predominance in Straparola's tales of stories involving social rise.[6]